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News

Type Approval for latest SharpEye™

Details

15 Sep 2015

Kelvin Hughes is pleased to announce the successful completion of Type Approval for its latest I-Band (X-Band) SharpEye™ upmast naval radar system. The company first unveiled the system at DSEI in September 2013 as the world’s first carbon composite antenna turning unit, which doubles as the housing to accommodate the radar sensor. This radar is lighter in weight, more powerful, more robust and stealthier than its predecessor.

Navies engaged in new builds, upgrade and life extension programmes frequently insist that navigation and collision avoidance systems meet the same international type approval standards as those required under the IMO for any commercial ocean going vessel. However, naval operators require much more from their radar than just navigation and collision avoidance. Features crucial to the naval operator include longer range and more reliable detection of potential threats, helicopter control in adverse weather and small target detection to enhance tactical situational awareness.

Unlike many commercial marine shipping radar systems that can meet type approval but cannot provide the capabilities that a modern navy requires, SharpEye™ delivers both in a cost effective upmast package. Doubling as a navigation / collision avoidance system and providing tactical capability to the command, SharpEye™ radar technology meets the detection challenges of navies, coastguards and border agencies through a combination of radar techniques designed to provide the best performance in all conditions whilst also allowing for optimisation for specific detection needs.

SharpEye™ transmits a low power, patented pulse sequence enabling short, medium and long range radar returns to be detected simultaneously. The radar operator therefore maintains situational awareness regardless of the range scale setting of the radar display whilst other users of the radar can select their own radar display range scale. The radar’s low power output also reduces the probability of detection by ESM equipment.

Doppler processing of radar returns provides coherent information concerning a target’s velocity and ensures the detection of very small and slow moving objects with a low Radar Cross Section (RCS). Through a series of electronic filters, SharpEye™ is able to distinguish between targets of interest and clutter whilst customisable waveforms can be configured for specific threats and to detect specific targets such UAVs, drones and helicopters.

With its solid state electronics, and therefore no magnetron, SharpEye™ is highly reliable and requires no routine maintenance, removing the need for any formally qualified radar engineers onboard. Moreover, with an upmast transceiver, there is no waveguide to compromise citadel integrity and signal loss is reduced.

Spike Hughes, Kelvin Hughes’ Sales and Marketing Director, commented: “We’re obviously delighted to have completed Type Approval for our SharpEye™ lightweight upmast radar system. The system’s combination of superior detection performance and versatility, extremely high reliability and low through life costs makes it the ideal solution for naval vessels of all kinds.”

Kelvin Hughes will be showcasing the system on its DSEI 2015 stand S4-110. Visitors are invited to take a closer look at the various components that make up this highly advanced navigation and situational awareness radar system.